Family of 11 Mexican wolves released from captivity into wild

PRESS RELEASE

12/7/16

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Kim Young, Director of Communications

360.264.4695 x 217 / 360.704.9440 (cell)

Wolf Haven International

Family of 11 Mexican wolves released from captivity into wild
Largest release ever done in both U.S. & Mexico

Newly released wolf explores surroundings in Mexico

TENINO, WA- On December 1, Mexico released a family group of 11 wolves into the wild. This family of endangered Mexican gray wolves originated at Wolf Haven and was moved to the Ladder Ranch in New Mexico in April to await their release. Wolf Haven and Ladder Ranch staff accompanied the wolves to the release site and participated in this historic occasion, along with agency personnel from Mexico. This was the 10th release event in Mexico and the largest release of Mexican wolves in the wild that has occurred to date - the culmination of cooperative efforts of the following groups: US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), New Mexico Game and Fish (NMGF), CONANP, Natural Science Faculty from Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Endangered Wolf Center, Turner Endangered Species Fund (Ladder Ranch) and Wolf Haven International.

While residing at Wolf Haven, the breeding pair gave birth to a litter of three pups in 2015. In April 2016, Wolf Haven animal care staff caught-up this wolf family and and transferred the breeding male (M1067) and breeding female (F1222) with their three offspring to the Ladder Ranch in NM. The same breeding female was pregnant at the time of their transfer to Ladder Ranch and gave birth to six pups shortly after arriving, bringing the family unit to eleven wolves.

Between 1996 and 2015, a total of eight Mexican wolf litters have been born at Wolf Haven International. Photographs of members of this family group are included in the new book Wolf Haven: Sanctuary and the Future of Wolves in North America.


	Inside 11 crates, 11 wolves await their release into the wild.

Wolf Haven and the Mexican wolf captive breeding program:

In 1976, the Mexican wolf was put on the Endangered Species Act. It remains one of the most endangered mammals in North America and the most endangered subspecies of gray wolf in the world. It is estimated that 130 Mexican wolves live in the wild in the U.S. and Mexico.

Wolf Haven was approved to participate in the Mexican wolf Species Survival Plan (SSP) program in 1994, as both a captive-breeding site and a pre-release site. Since that time, the sanctuary has produced eight litters of Mexican pups and released three packs, one of which, the Hawk's Nest, was part of the initial release into the Blue Range Recovery Area in Arizona & New Mexico. This pack would go on to produce the first wild born pup.

About Wolf Haven International

Wolf Haven International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to conserve and protect wolves and their habitat. For more than 30 years, Wolf Haven has provided sanctuary to over 200 captive-born wolves, offered educational programs about wolves and wildlife and advocated for wolf restoration in the wild.

To support programs like this one please donate to Wolf Haven International.